You just get into a rhythm and what happens, you change jobs and lose your blogging mojo.

Well I’m 7 weeks into the new job at Vidyo and I thought it a great time to start to search out my mojo and get back on the blog….first question; what to write about? Well I’ve always laboured the point of cultural and behavioural change being a vital part of UC, so why not make that specific to Vidyo and use that as a starting point.

With video I’ve discovered it goes much deeper than changing the way people work, its much more a natural, subconcious, ingrained way of working. When it comes to visual communications, there’s so much more that is open to be inetrpretted than what you simply ‘hear’. Its often quoted that 70% of communication is non-verbal and its only having worked in a visual environment that I’m firmly in agreement.  I used to book calls and meetings for at least 30 minutes duration, often an hour. I can now have 15-30 productive interactions over a natural feeling Vidyo session. And that’s the key word “natural”…any latency or jitter in a video call and its not natural, that’s the point at which it doesn’t feel right and you’re missing those vital non-verbal pieces of the jigsaw. If they’re not there you can’t have as effective a conversation. Thankfully, and hence why I joined, (upcoming blatant plug warning!!!) Vidyo nails the ‘natural’ feel every time, with HD quality to my desktop at low latency (blatant plug over!)

Let me give you an example. Even without a deep understanding of personality profiling such as Insights you’ll understand that the outgoing, enthusiastic, energetic character is diametrically opposite the shy, retiring, person. But on that same part of the spectrum you have the detailed, analytical person. Reading their body language, facial expression etc is going to be an extremely vital part of gaining realtime feedback.

Now take that one step further and look at some of the video systems on the market that do active speaker swapping. Who’s going to be the active speaker in that situation? More often that not the precise, deliberate folks on the left aren’t going to get a look in and will occupy far less screen time than the more outspoken on the call. Its for exactly that reason that having a ‘continuous presence’ is vital if I want to read body language and spot the 70% of communication that I’m not hearing.

There’s a second piece to this story that I’ll follow on with, this piece will look at how communications benefit from being personal. In the meantime  let me know if I’ve found my mojo (or not), as I’m definitely enjoying the new role…

Courtesy of Mashable.com

Wow! thats all I can say. You see most of these stats in the press, in Wired magazine etc, but I challenge you to watch this and not say "no way" or "wow" at least once.....the world changes....

I took delivery of another very promising UC device today, the Plantronics Calisto 800 series (I have a Calisto 835 on test).

 

 

This is my 4^th attempt at writing this review, not because I’ve had no time, but because I’m not sure where to start as this device wasn’t what I expected at all.

 

Lets kick off by taking a look at what I said in my Voyager Pro UC review - for starters I said that the Calisto was entering  “a category that GN Netcom had sown up in my opinion with the Jabra Speak 410”..so I was wrong…the Calisto isn’t aimed at that category at all.  Why? Well let me start with the unboxing of the Calisto, it is all very functionally packaged, separate power supply, neatly packaged device, separate USB cable, wireless collar microphone and no carry case. This isn’t a device that is primarily aimed at being lugged around in a laptop bag at all. The Jabra device comes in a nice carry case. The Voyager Pro UC comes in a nice carry case. The Calisto doesn’t. This immediately told me I needed to reset my expectations & “think of the user profile”. My own user profile is that I’m a Home User 60% of time, with customers or travelling the other 40%. My own UC set up I detailed on here a couple of weeks ago and when I’m working from home I use a Polycom CX600 connected to Lync. My CX600 serves me very well, it has a dial pad, its great as a speakerphone, I can hot swap easily and go walk about with a headset on, so I was trying to understand where the Calisto fits against all my user profile.

 

Lets take a look at the Calisto then for a moment.

 

Once I got over the rather quirky form factor (I can’t help but think it looks like a 2011 version of the control panel on the back of Big Trak…one for anybody who was a teenager in the UK in the 80’s) I realised that it connects without needing AC power (its optional) so it didn’t eat up one of my highly valuable wall sockets

 

Wireless Collar Mic - The mic’s docking socket on the right hand side slides in easily for assembly. The mic itself is well built and seats securely with an Apple-esque satisfying fit, charging up quickly on the dock. The display notified me when it charged up fully. The collar mic has simple controls and LED indicators on it which are hard to mis-use.

Call Quality -The call quality was good, no problem there even when cranked up to high volume and I found it easy to switch between wireless mic and in-built mic.

Dial Pad - The dial pad could be slightly more responsive than it is, but its good enough and initiates calls nicely on MOC/Lync or mobile. It can also send DTMF tones which are v useful if you are using Lync to dial into a traditional conference bridge and need to enter a pin code, something that can be quite cumbersome on a softphone.

Headset – you can pair a Bluetooth headset with it if you so wish or also use a wired headset if you want some privacy.

Display – it has a 2.4” colour display that is the right size for its function and is clear to read for menu and also CLI details

Connecting multiple devices – Depending on which version you get it can connect softphone, mobile & (in the case of the 835) an analogue line. On softphone and mobile it allows you to make & receive calls easily (I couldn’t test the analogue line bit, sorry!)

 

And then it hit me, the Calisto 835 isn’t aimed at the category in which the Jabra device sits at all, it is more aimed in a gap between the CX600 or CX500 and the Jabra …its got a dial pad, its great as a speakerphone and I can easily hot swap and go walk about, and thanks to the collar mic I don’t have to lean over the device to make myself heard.

 

Thinking back to the user profile its very much suitable for a home office/office user that doesn’t want to lay out for a more expensive IP Phone. It’s what car manufacturers would call a ‘crossover’ and In that category I think it’s a very good addition to the Plantronics range and I’m really pleasantly surprised by this device, its so much more than I expected from it. That said, I’ll probably stick with my CX600 & Voyager Pro UC, but I can see this one being popular for the right user profile, just don’t expect this one to be one for the laptop bag, ‘cos it ain’t designed for that.

 

PS. I know I promised to find something to moan about with the Voyager Pro UC….sorry…I cant…

 

********UPDATE********

 

apparently there is a carry case for the Calisto and mine's en route. This is a good addition, I still think that the Calisto is more office oriented than laptop bag oriented, but for those wanting something that does both, then a carry case will help. Again its all down to user profile and if you want something to be a homeworker tool that helps you keep your desk tidy by consolidating across devices, then the Calisto does that in spades.

 

Disclosure: to be transparent this device was given to me by Plantronics as an eval unit, but there were no conditions on a decent review or even a review at all…….Opinions own.

 

 

Quick un-boxing review of the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC v2 that they announced at their event last week

 

 

Firstly the un-boxing; the device comes well packaged and the first thing that struck me as I opened it up was that an immediate improvement on the original Voyager Pro (which was already my weapon of choice) is that it comes with a carry case. This is great given that the second improvement is that the Bluetooth dongle is now about 80% smaller than the previous one, and protrudes less than a cm beyond the USB socket on my Vaio, so this would undoubtedly disappear in the depths of my laptop bag.

 

Next up – fit & comfort. I found the old Voyager very comfortable and could quite happily wear for long periods in the car or on back to back calls, the new one is largely identical in that respect. I did spot one aesthetic difference which  is that the microphone mesh and noise cancelling mesh is much finer this time which does make less abrasive to touch….obviously for those that stroke their headsets a lot then that’s an advantage!

 

Set-up – well I did the usual trick of ‘open box>try to make it work> then go and read the manual if I absolutely had to’ and found that pairing to my mobile worked perfectly easily, with the added improvement that the headset announced “pairing successful” when it paired. Pairing with the dongle happened the instant I plugged in the dongle, again announcing it in my ear. No grey button to press like on the old Voyager dongle made this even simpler. These announcements stretch to the power status as well, a quick tap of the power button and it will tell you how much battery life is left.

 

There is a Smart Sensor on the new version which detects when the headset is on your head and manages the audio appropriately, ie take the headset off mid call and it will send the audio straight through the phone speaker as it recognised that you can no longer hear the earpiece. This is a godsend for someone like me that often leaves my headset on my desk and then wanders off, rendering my phone temporarily useless when I try to make calls. The manual had to come out at some point though, and this was it, purely to work out what other wizardry this sensor could perform.

 

I then got to the slightly trickier bit (to be fair it was all so straight forward up until then, anything was comparatively tricky) where I needed to install the Plantronics software as this will help you configure and run some of the advanced features. Note that when you choose Typical v Custom, that Custom will enable you to disable any modules that you will never use, for example I don’t need the Shoretel modules, so didn’t install those. The version I have is optimised for Lync but I believe it works as basic call control for other softphones too, hence the options.

 

Plantronics have recognised that as this is so feature rich they want to make it as simple as possible so have also published an online video guide to installing and setting up which may be useful for users not familiar with these types of devices

 

The last bit of functionality I tested was something I had doubts about whether I would work or not, but it worked a treat, no problems at all… how many times have you IM’d somebody saying “cant speak, on my mobile” even though you’re showing as available? Well as the headset sits across both mobile and softphone, it fixes that and changes your Lync presence when you receive or place a call from your mobile. It does need the software you downloaded to be running in the background however to make this work, but insignificant sacrifice.

 

I’m now looking forward to testing the Callisto when I get my hands on that, as that was a category that GN Netcom had sown up in my opinion with the Jabra Speak 410, so lets see what that brings

 

So to wrap up - I’ve got to say that so far it rocks. Plantronics are listing it on their website at £199.95 which I feel is a bit rich, but I’m sure will come down over time. The previous version worked extremely well as it was, but somehow they’ve improved on it. I promise I will find something to moan about and when I find it I’ll let you know, but for now…….I have a new UC weapon of choice.

 

UPDATE: 2nd Feb: Having used it for a couple of days now I stand by everything above, but there is more functionality in this little device too. With that goes some potential pitfalls. The headset has some advanced features for swapping between modes, particularly as it can listen to music played from eg your phone. If you do decide to use it for this, make sure you understand the config and how to swap between the 2 as otherwise this functionality can become slightly overwhelming. This isnt to say it doesnt work for this, it does, just make sure you know how to use it.

 

Disclosure: to be transparent this device was given to me by Plantronics as an eval unit, but there were no conditions on a decent review or even a review at all…….Opinions own.

 

 

 

 

I saw this great video/advert over at Next at Microsoft where Steve Clayton now resides as Director of Storyteling. I was just chatting around the office this week and so many people have been commenting that “technology is starting to come together”. All this stuff that we’ve been able to do for some time; like voice commands, search, location, take photo’s, mail/message are all sooo much easier now and all work together to create a smooth, connected user experience. Let me give you an example, its simple stuff, but I was blown away by how connected it all was – at the weekend I needed to look up a phone number of my local pub, so I typed the name into Bing on my phone…I was expecting to have to dig through links, hope the pub (small country village so unlikely) had its own website, or that perhaps Yell or something would present the number to me….but bing presented a list of establishments, I clicked the one I meant,  and it presented the phone number, I swiped right and it gave me reviews, I swiped right again it gave me location and directions from where I was and the last swipe gave me other restaurants in the area (in case that one was closed/rubbish I guess). Not so long ago that would have needed the pub to have a website, to use a mappings service, a directory service and probably a pen so I could take down the number!

That’s the consumer world admittedly, but with the increasing focus on interoperability this will only permeate through the enterprise world too

Bringing together video, personal avatars, virtual assistants the lot

Due to my role (and in part my blatant love of all things tech), I’m always evaluating new devices and software to get the best home worker/office worker/ mobile worker tool set. And because people know I do this, I’m often asked for my personal opinion on what the best set up is. Now before I get into the detail of that, its important to understand I’m just one profile of user, across any organisation there will be several profiles and anybody deploying UC needs to understand them before they even get into any form of deployment. Last year I wrote a paper for Channel Pro  where amongst other things I talked about users and behaviours.

Every project that I get to see now involves either user profiling, user training, user adoption or most likely all three, so what I wrote about then is just as valid today. The reason for saying that is that whilst these are my favourite toys du jour, they represent this particular users behaviour. You may recognise some of these behaviours in your own user group or even in your own daily activity…or you may think I’m talking rubbish…that’s fine too…these tools work for me though J

Mobile and Softphone headset for travelling – Plantronics Voyager Pro

This does seem to be the weapon of choice for most road and hotel warriors that want something that is light weight, easy to pair, wideband and ‘just works’. I hear there may be an upgrade on the way, I look forward to that!

Deskphone for home working – Polycom CX600

This stays linked by USB to my laptop running Lync, so I can take calls/make calls using the client and the CX600 handles the call and if I feel like pacing the room the client can easily hand off to the voyager pro seamlessly. You can easily provision it this way too, making it easy to send out vanilla devices to homeworkers to set up themselves. Its not touchscreen like the larger CX700, but it’s a helluva lot better looking and takes up less desk space

USB Speakerphone – Jabra Speak 410

I tend to use this in hotel rooms, or working in quiet environments for longer calls where I don’t have access to a phone or don’t want a headset on. Equally this comes out in meeting rooms for several of us to join a conference call…comes in a nice bag so stays intact when rolling around in your bag. Its got some very responsive buttons on it too, all round well made.

Webcam – Microsoft Lifecam Cinema

many laptops (including my Vaio) have a built in webcam, but I do fine I get a better picture with dedicated cameras so I’m still clinging on to a separate device for now. This little beauty at around £35 gets you 720P HD and even if the PC or the network can’t handle that definition, it still sends a great picture.

And lastly ***warning blatant sales pitch ahead*** you can buy all of these on http://www.btucdevices.com although I think we need to do more work on helping users through the choice of device than we currently do on that site, so that’s my priority to improve the service through that channel…watch this space.

If Miercom had a hashtag, rather than being subsumed within the #ucoms and #Lync tags, it surely woud be one of the top trending items in the world of UC this week.

Miercom have just published a thorough and independent view of Microsoft Lync Server 2010 from the perspective of it living up to the hype of being an enterprise grade communications platform.

If I compare Microsoft’s position today to where they were with OCS R2, one publication I’d like to refer back to is Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for UC 2010. At that point Microsoft had edged Cisco into 2^nd place, but OCS R2 whilst great as a collaboration platform had been held back by some relative inadequacies particular to PBX functionality. Back then OCS R2 didn’t have functionality that was common across its IPT competition, functionality such as Call Access Control was missing which would allow administrators and service providers to manage and control call quality and quality of experience (QoE). Cisco could also boast, as an example, SRST which provides redundancy and resilience for remote branches, something OCS R2 couldn’t claim.

But with Lync Server 2010, Microsoft clearly have been listening and as a member of the Advisory Council for UC, we’ve been banging the drum about this for some time.  In Lync Server 2010 Microsoft have stepped up and delivered both those capabilities, with CaC now in the product and SRST capability reflected in the Survivable Branch Appliances from partners such as NET, which is the product tested by Miercom. There are other SBA’s available too, in our managed servce offering for example, we’ve actually chosen to standardise on Audiocodes.

An ever expanding range of devices also complement the audio qualities of the service and from a personal experience, the featureset I get from a Polycom CX600 connected straight over my home DSL is really enhancing my home worker tool set

For those who don’t want to read all 24 pages, Simon Leyland has done a good job of pulling out the highlights from the report so I’ll refer you to his post for those.

So to close out, there have been some great advances by Cisco and Avaya too since the 2010 Magic Quadrant, with innovation such as Cius and Flare that I wont go into here, but I eagerly look forward to the 2011 Magic Quadrant now…let battle commence.

Hoping this doesn't set the scene of posts to come, but on Twitter (@markys) I've raved about how good the Polycom CX600 is for Lync, great audio quality, easy swapping of calls and I even use the speaker for playing music from my PC.....well last night we applied an update to our Lync platform, my trusty CX600 lost connectivity and then never recovered...sob...

But help was at hand, a lesser known capability accessed by pressing lots of buttons together, more akin to a fireball on Streetfighter, performed a quick reset and I'm back up again, so if anybody else is in the same situation, here's how to do it:

Factory Reset functionality:

·         When the device starts up, press and hold at the same time the following keys:  “ 4” and “6” for GA phones <<<Note that * & # at the same time do a hard reset too >>

·         The user will be asked to confirm before proceeding with the operation.

·         If user selects no, the device will continue its normal startup process.

·         If user selects yes, the factory reset process will start.

·         While the factory reset process is being performed, the manufacturer logo will be shown with a progress bar at the bottom indicating the progress of the operation.

·         Once the process is complete, the device will continue its normal startup process.

·         Device will boot up with the last working software image.

 

**** Factory Reset deletes all user-created data (for example, device logs, registry settings, and user credentials) and to revert the device back to the last working software image. This functionality can be used in the event that the device is updated to a software image that is problematic and is causing undesirable behavior for the user.*******